Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century and a probable influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi. Donizetti was born in Bergamo in Lombardy. At an early age he was taken up by Simon Mayr who enrolled him with a full scholarship in a school which he had set up. There he received detailed musical training. Mayr was instrumental in obtaining a place for Donizetti at the Bologna Academy, where, at the age of 19, he wrote his first one-act opera, the comedy Il Pigmalione, which may never have been performed during his lifetime. An offer in 1822 from Domenico Barbaja, the impresario of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, which followed the composer's ninth opera, led to his move to Naples and his residency there until production of Caterina Cornaro in January 1844. In all, 51 of Donizetti's operas were presented in Naples. Before 1830, success came primarily with his comic operas, the serious ones failing to attract significant audiences. His first notable success came with an opera seria, Zoraida di Granata, which was presented in 1822 in Rome. In 1830, when Anna Bolena was first performed, Donizetti made a major impact on the Italian and international opera scene shifting the balance of success away from primarily comedic operas, although even after that date, his best-known works included comedies such as L'elisir d'amore (1832) and Don Pasquale (1843). Significant historical dramas did succeed; they included Lucia di Lammermoor (the first to have a libretto written by Salvadore Cammarano) given in Naples in 1835, and one of the most successful Neapolitan operas, Roberto Devereux in 1837. Up to that point, all of his operas had been set to Italian libretti. Donizetti found himself increasingly chafing against the censorship limitations in Italy (and especially in Naples). From about 1836, he became interested in working in Paris, where he saw greater freedom to choose subject matter, in addition to receiving larger fees and greater prestige. From 1838, beginning with an offer from the Paris Opéra for two new works, he spent much of the following 10 years in that city, and set several operas to French texts as well as overseeing staging of his Italian works. The first opera was a French version of the then-unperformed Poliuto which, in April 1840, was revised to become Les martyrs. Two new operas were also given in Paris at that time. Throughout the 1840s Donizetti moved between Naples, Rome, Paris, and Vienna, continuing to compose and stage his own operas as well as those of other composers. From around 1843, severe illness began to limit his activities. By early 1846 he was obliged to be confined to an institution for the mentally ill and, by late 1847, friends had him moved back to Bergamo, where he died in April 1848 in a state of mental derangement due to neurosyphilis. |
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 51-75 of 617 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | C-8034 | 12-in. | 6/9/1909 | Spirit so fair | Evan Williams | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-8282 | 12-in. | 10/6/1909 | A furtive tear | Evan Williams | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-8535 | 12-in. | 1/3/1910 | Fra poco a me ricovero | John McCormack | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-8536 | 12-in. | 1/7/1910 | Una furtiva lagrima (A furtive tear) | John McCormack | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-8739 | 12-in. | 3/23/1910 | Per viver vicino a Maria | John McCormack | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-8740 | 12-in. | 3/23/1910 | Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali | John McCormack | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-8754 | 12-in. | 3/26/1910 | Rataplan duet | Charles Gilibert ; Marcella Sembrich | Vocal duet (soprano and baritone), with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-10068 | 12-in. | 3/16/1911 | Il dolce suono | Luisa Tetrazzini | Soprano vocal solo, with flute and orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-10101 | 12-in. | 3/27/1911 | Lucia sextette : Chi mi frena | Victor Opera Sextette | Vocal sextet (soprano, contralto, tenor, 2 baritones, and bass), with orchestra (issued takes) | composer | |
Victor | C-10116 | 12-in. | 3/31/1911 | Daughter of the regiment : Selection | Vessella's Italian Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | C-10203 | 12-in. | 4/6/1911 | Lucia sextette | Vessella's Italian Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | B-10560 | 10-in. | 6/20/1911 | Cercheró lontana terra | Umberto Sorrentino | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-10973 | 10-in. | 9/15/1911 | On the sea | Marguerite Dunlap ; Elizabeth Wheeler | Female vocal duet, with piano | composer | |
Victor | C-11407 | 12-in. | 12/21/1911 | Mad scene | Edith Helena | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra and flute obbligato | composer | |
Victor | C-11446 | 12-in. | 1/10/1912 | Sextette : Chi mi frena | Pasquale Amato ; Angelo Bada ; Enrico Caruso ; Josephine Jacoby ; Marcel Journet ; Luisa Tetrazzini | Vocal sextet (soprano, contralto, 2 tenors, baritone, and bass), with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11457 | 12-in. | 1/15/1912 | Splendon più belle in ciel le stelle | Marcel Journet ; Metropolitan Opera Chorus ; Victor Orchestra | Bass vocal solo, with vocal chorus and orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11587 | 12-in. | 2/12/1912 | Lucia sextette | Ferdinand Himmelreich | Piano solo | composer | |
Victor | C-11686 | 12-in. | 3/8/1912 | O mio Fernando | Margarete Matzenauer | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11786 | 12-in. | 3/22/1912 | Ah! l'alto ardor | Pasquale Amato ; Margarete Matzenauer | Vocal duet (soprano and baritone), with orchestra and chorus | composer | |
Victor | B-11797 | 10-in. | 3/27/1912 | Una vergine, un angiol di Dio | Alberto Amadi | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11799 | 12-in. | 3/27/1912 | O paradiso | Alberto Amadi | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-12117 | 12-in. | 6/19/1912 | Oh, Italia, Italia beloved | Victor Chorus | Chorus, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-13520 | 12-in. | 7/3/1913 | Tombe degl'avi miei | Alberto Amadi | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-13980 | 10-in. | 10/22/1913 | Com'e gentil serenade | Charles Harrison | Tenor vocal solo, with harp | composer | |
Victor | B-14000 | 10-in. | 10/27/1913 | Brindisi | Sophie Braslau | Contralto vocal solo, with orchestra | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Donizetti, Gaetano," accessed November 2, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102598.
Donizetti, Gaetano. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 2, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102598.
"Donizetti, Gaetano." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 2 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Gaetano Donizetti
Discogs: Gaetano Donizetti
Allmusic: Gaetano Donizetti
IMSLP: Gaetano Donizetti
RILM: Gaetano Donizetti
RISM: Gaetano Donizetti
IMDb: Gaetano Donizetti
Britannica: Gaetano Donizetti
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Donizetti, Gaetano, 1797-1848 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79132358
Wikidata: Gaetano Donizetti - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q101698
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/74037336
MusicBrainz: Gaetano Donizetti - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/b8ecf204-6be8-4041-ab11-6d9971ea2711
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